LLDP on Cisco Devices

Joshua Wood — Fri, 27 Jan 2012 23:29:55 +0000

Hi all, Ciscos CDP has been around … well forever it seems like. CDP is an incredibly useful protocol that tells you at a layer 2 level what switches or routers or such are connected which other devices. This simple protocol allows you to map out a network in a short period of time.

Another highly used feature of the CDP protocol is for Cisco phones to determine which VLAN the phone is on. But what about Mitel or non-Cisco phones or switches. What is their solution to this obvious dilemma? Enter LLDP.

LLDP is CDP but open-standard. It runs in much the same way as CDP but with obvious differences. The primary difference is that it also runs on HP switches and Mitel phones. Some phones such as Mitels phones allow the phone to use the LLDP technology in order to automatically find out what VLAN they need to be on.

The configuration for the LLDP isn’t much different from the Cisco proprietary CDP protocol. Basically, you issue the “LLDP run” command in global configuration mode and you’re done. Unless you want/need specific parameters that is all there is to it. Review the link below for more information if you need it.

LLDP Configuration Doc: http://www.cisco.com/en/US/docs/switches/lan/catalyst2960/software/release/12.2_37_ey/configuration/guide/swlldp.pdf

Until next time,
TechStop (JW)

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LLDP on Cisco Devices